IR Film Review: AQUAMAN AND THE LOST KINGDOM [Warner Bros]
The context of "Aquaman And The Lost Kingdom" is redemption. The structure of the film begins a little too cartoonish but once it gets to its pinnacle, it redeems alot of its mythos despite a clunky finish in a way. The story of brothers clashing and reconciling is tried and true but it depends on the consequence of time. Unlike the first film, which saw Jason Mamoa accepting the mantle of King Of Atlantis against his own better judgement, this film works on the idea of what one does with it. Like with Spiderman in another universe, with great power comes great responsibility. The thing with Momoa's Aquaman is that he has always made it with a bit of fun. He loves the character, doesn't make fun of it but does take the piss out of the superhero element every once in a while. A Loki and Azkaban reference in the same sentence when he and his brother Orm (Patrick WIlson) are in a backwards jungle is spot on. The problem is that Aquaman works best when it is real people in a real world (at least physically] i.e. them inside a ship (both Mantis and Aquaman] or when they are on land.
The problem is that most of the CG really gets lost in the mix. The one big island is the only element that resounds. The Lost Kingdom is mostly puzzle pieces. The Orm/Arthur story works because Patrick Wilson plays it so straight against Momoa who knows how to subtly bring out certain humanity traits of the character. The aspect of Aquaman having a son with Mera (Amber Heard) is focused on and rightfully so (though on land we usually only see Arthur with him). This of course could have been because of real life intruding in. Heard is throughout the film and integral to the plot and yet not so it is hard to see where the puzzle pieces fit with what she shot before and after her real life drama. The same though can be said of Nicole Kiman as the mother of both brothers, though one small scene between the three of film does say so much.
Black Manta/David Kane (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II) is more succinctly a plot ploy with less emotional range than the first film. Same with Randall Park as Stephen Shin. His plot seems puzzle pieced together as well as simply a way to address certain consciental issues. The problem with everything outside the Arthur/Orm storyline is that is just feels cobbled together and not organic. The ending makes sense as a coda but is not riveting. It is fun and in tune with the Momoa concept of who Aquaman is without promising anything more (which might have been part of the play). The Lost Kingdom as an ancient evil is what rules the film through the Black Trident storyline. Oddly enough though, the ending of the film feels alot more like "Hellboy II: The Golden Army" but with less stakes. But like "Hellboy II" to the original "Hellboy", it carries much of the DNA and same fun as the original but with something slightly missing or perhaps committeed too much. It is still a fun ride but not as complete as it might have been if there was more of an endgame. B
By Tim Wassberg
